24 June 2011

After weeks of deadlock, the New York Senate passed an historic marriage equality bill late tonight by a 33-29 vote. Thirty-two votes were needed for passage.

New York joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the District of Columbia in allowing same-sex couples to marry. New York also becomes the most populous state granting such rights.

The late-night vote on Pride weekend also gives "the national gay-rights movement new momentum from the state where it was born," reported the New York Times.

The New York Senate also becomes the first Republican-controlled legislative body in the nation to pass such a bill. Twenty-nine of 30 Democrats supported the bill. Four Republicans voted "yes."

The marriage equality bill was introduced by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo on June 14th. The next day, the Democratic-led Assembly passed the marriage bill for the fourth time in as many years. Several religious protection amendments were added earlier today, requiring the approval of both chambers.

UPDATE: Cuomo signed the bill late Friday night. Marriage equality will become the law in 30 days.

15 June 2011

For the fourth time in as many years, the Democratic-led New York Assembly passed a marriage equality bill. The vote for the "Marriage Equality Act" was 80-63.

The bill was submitted Tuesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The lead sponsor was Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell, an out gay New York City Democrat. But the key vote in the Senate vote will not happen "until at least Thursday, and more likely Friday"—that is, if the Republican majority calls a vote.

Thirty-two votes are needed in the Senate. Twenty-nine Democrats and two Republicans have publicly committed they to the bill, which means that one more Republican vote is needed to pass.

The marriage vote failed when the Senate took it up for the first time in December 2009. The vote was 38-24, with 8 Democrats joining the entire GOP caucus to oppose the bill. This time, almost the entire Senate Democratic caucus is unified behind marriage equality. The rabidly anti-gay Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. remains the only Senate Democrat who will not support the bill.

"This has never been about, on marriage equality, a vote in the Assembly primarily. the assembly has passed it before. People expect it will pass again. The question is what’s going to happen in the Senate. The discussions that I’ve had with the collective group that is working on this in a unified way is we want to pass a bill. we don’t want to bring a bill up in the Senate that will fail, right? We don’t want to have an instant replay of last year. It’s not about having a vote for a sake of a vote. It’s about if it’s going to pass. and the conversations we’re having now will education as to whether we’ll bring the bill to a vote."

In February, the governor delivered his budget address at Hofstra University and said he would push for marriage equality. "Well be working very hard to pass it," Cuomo told reporters.

13 May 2009

The Democratic-led New York State Assembly voted 89-52 for a bill that would make New York the sixth state to allow same-sex marriage. It's the second time in two years the bill passed the lower house. The New York Timesreports:

"In a sign of how opinion in Albany has shifted on the issue, several members of the Assembly who voted against the measure in 2007 voted in favor of it on Tuesday. Supporters of the bill aggressively sought new votes, particularly from Assembly members whose districts lie within Senate districts where a senator’s vote is believed to be in play. 'The margin of victory and the balance of where the people come from who voted for this is broadening,' said Daniel J. O’Donnell, a Democratic assemblyman from the Upper West Side who led the effort in the Assembly to gain support for the bill. 'The state is demanding that we provide equality, and that’s the message here.' "

The final vote count included five Republicans. Janet L. Duprey, a Republican assemblywoman who voted against gay marriage in 2007, spoke in favor of the bill last night. She said a lesbian couple on her block helped persuade her.

The debate shifts to the Senate where Majority Leader Malcolm Smith of Queens pledges action on the bill only when he has sufficient votes for passage. The Democrats hold a razor thin 32-30 majority in the Senate and it's believed the bill is several votes shy of a majority.